Guest ArticleArticle

ERATOSTHENES: BETA (SECOND BEST) OF THE

ANCIENT WORLD

Cover Story

30 YEARS AGO: FIRST AFRICAN-AMERICAN

LAUNCHES INTO SPACE

From The News Desk Latest Updates On

UNIVERSE IN THE SCHOOL

SPACE EVENTS ASTRO TOURISM

ASTROINQUISITES

Why Shadow Has Two Parts – Umbra

And Penumbra?

S P A C E N E W S September’ 13

Monthly Newsletter of SPACE Group

Chief Editor : Sachin BahmbaEditors : Amit Verma & Divya Kanchanbaras

ASTRONOMY AT HOME

Spinning Balloon

INDEX

S NO TOPIC PAGE NO.

1 Universe In The School News 3

2 Events News 8

3 School In Focus – Bal Bharati Public School, Dwarka 11

4 Sky This Month 14

5 Cover Story - 30 Years Ago: First African-American Launches into Space

15

6 Astroinquisites - Why Shadow Has Two Parts – Umbra And Penumbra?

18

7 Astro Tourism News 19

8 Article - Eratosthenes: Beta (Second best) of the Ancient World

20

9 Astronomy At Home – Spinning Balloon 24

10 SPACE is Hiring! 28

UNIVERSE IN THE SCHOOL NEWS - Centre For Student Excellence

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Hydro Rocketry Workshop at Indraprastha World School Paschim Vihar

A Hydro rocketry workshop was conducted in Indraprastha World School Paschim Vihar for SPACE Club students on 26th July’13. Around 100 students took part in the workshop where they learnt about concept of rockets and also made their own rocket. A Hydro rocketry competition was also held on 2 Aug’13 where 32 teams took part in the competition.

Students making their own rockets during workshop

Students display Hydro Rockets made by them Launch of Hydro Rockets

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An Astronomy Fair at Indraprastha International School, Dwarka

An Astronomy Fair was held at Indraprastha International School, Dwarka on a regular PTM day on August 10, 2013 where around 300 to 400 parents participated and they were showcased the astronomy activities conducted in school by students like Know your Weight on different planets, Let’s make Craters on Luna, Observe the Universe in 3D, Astro Quiz – Play and Win!!

Parents excited to know their weight on different planets

Children weighing themselves on different planets

Students and Parents made craters on the MOONParents and students observed 3D pictures with the help of 3D goggles

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Indraprastha Dwarka students showcasing their knowledge of Astronomy through fun interactions with SPACE Educator

Astronomy fun during PTM at BBPS Pitampura

Two astronomical activities were conducted on PTM at Bal Bharati Public School, Pitampura on 17th Aug. Fun astronomical activities like Hydro rocketry and Weigh Yourself on different planets were organized for students.

Students Launching Hydro rocket

Students checking weights on different planets

An Astronomy Fair at Indraprastha International School, Dwarka – contd.

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Astronomy Day at SPACE Astronomy Club Schools - Ryan International School Mayur Vihar, Bhartiya Vidya Bhawan KG Marg & Bal Bharati Public School, Dwarka

SPACE organized the annual Astronomy Day at its various club schools - Ryan International School, Mayur Vihar, Bhartiya Vidya Bhawan KG Marg, & Bal Bharati Public School, Dwarka during August’13. Students very enthusiastically showcased their learning & interest in astronomy at the event. They performed varied exciting activities like comet kitchen, hydro rocketry, time & direction using Sun, etc.

The active participation of students made the event a grand success. Ms. Sulochana, Principal of Ryan International School said “Program was interesting and innovative. Students were excited to launch the rocket. It was a learning experience“. Ms. Vibha Kohli, Vice-Principal of Bhartiya Vidya Bhawan said “Astronomy day was really a superb one. All teachers, students were highly motivated and an extremely good show was put up by our students and executive team of Space. Really a memorable one”

Students launching Rocket for the Principal & making Comet (Ryan International School)

BVB Principal doing inaugral Rocket launch & Solar Walk team(Bhartiya Vidya Bhawan)

Students launching Rockets & making Comets (BBPS Dwarka)

UNIVERSE IN THE SCHOOL NEWS – SPACE Astronomy Club

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To Have Fun With Astronomy

& For UITS Updates

SPACE Explorers Workshops organised at DPS, Ryan International & Amity International Schools at Gurgaon

An array of hands-on astronomy workshops were organised specially for primary kids at few prestigious schools in Gurgaon during August’13.“ Astronauts can you be one of them? , Air rocketry, Life in ISS, Moon Face off” were conducted at Delhi Public School, Gurgaon. “Rocket 1,2,3… Go” workshop was organised at Ryan International School, Gurgaon. “Astronaut can you be one of Them? & Lets Know about Earth” took place at Amity International School, Gurgaon.

Students having fun with astronomy during Rocket 1,2,3…Go workshop at Ryan International School, Gurgaon

Student watching a movie on ISS at DPS Gurgaon Students undergo Balancing Test at Amity Gurgaon

UNIVERSE IN THE SCHOOL NEWS – SPACE Explorers

EVENTS NEWSPast Event

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AIASC 2013

All India Asteroid Search Campaign - AIASC 2013 successfully completed on 13th August with 600 participants spanning all across India, and has continued for 3 months in 3 phases. Since its inception in India, AIASC has seen 2 special discoveries - a rare Trojan asteroid and a Virtual Impactor Object, 16 Provisional Discoveries, 101 Preliminary Discoveries, 44 NEO (Near Earth Object) Confirmations, and 1263 NEO Observations. AIASC 2013 itself saw a total of 78 teams participants across India participating, and they have collectively achieved 2 Provisional Discoveries, 12 preliminary discoveries, 2 NEO confirmations and 262 NEO Observations.

AIASC 2013 - 2013 PR Asteroid discovery AIASC 2013 - 2013 LS28 Asteroid discovery 2

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Upcoming Event

PROJECT PARIDHI

‘Project PARIDHI’, a flagship project of SPACE – to popularize hands on science, will be conducted at Qutub Minar and for the 1st time in Chandigarh on Autumnal equinox 23rd September, 2013 from 10 am till 1:30 pm with students and public. Autumnal equinox marks the first day of the season of autumn in the Northern hemisphere. On this day, the tilt of the Earth's axis is inclined neither away from nor towards the Sun, the center of the Sun being in the same plane as the Earth's equator. The name "equinox" is derived from the Latin aequus (equal) and nox (night), because around the equinox, night and day have approximately equal length. All principals, students and public are invited to see and participate in this activity at Qutub Minar. To find out more and register online, visit http://www.space-india.org/project-paridhi.html

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WORLD SPACE WEEK (WSW) - Exploring Mars, Discovering Earth

SPACE will be celebrating WSW from 4th October- 10th October’13. The theme for WSW this year is “Exploring Mars – Discovering Earth”. WSW 2013 is all about what many consider the Next Frontier: the planet Mars. Mars gives us an opportunity to define from scratch what world we want to live in. SPACE encourages everyone to celebrate WSW by conducting Astronomy events to popularise the subject. SPACE will be conducting an interschool painting competition and a model making competition during WSW and invites everyone to join and celebrate the spirit of WSW.

For other upcoming celestial occurrences follow

SPACE CALENDAR

PARTNER IN EXCELLENCE BAL BHARTI PUBLIC SCHOOL DWARKA

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"Let noble thoughts come to us from all sides"

"Astronomy is useful because it raises us above ourselves; it is useful because it is grand; …. It shows us how small is man's body, how great his mind, since his intelligence can embrace the whole of this dazzling immensity, where his body is only an obscure point, and enjoy its silent harmony“

Henri Poincaré, Physicist

At Bal Bharati Public School, it is our constant endeavor to ensure that the students are enriched with the innovative methods of scientific learning and achieve the sense of accomplishment as epitomised in the space programme. The school joined hands with SPACE Club to take the students through a challenging week long explorations and joys of learning through participation in a plethora of events under the ambit of Astronomy Day held on 17th August,2013 to celebrate the significance and relevance of innovations in the field of astronomy.

The occasion which witnessed enthused participation of students and teachers was the culmination and testimony of the year long coherent learning at Astronomy Club, conducted by SPACE.

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The event featured challenging and interesting activities as ‘Rocket Launching”, ”Kit Display”, “Stellarium” and “Comet Kitchen”, a novel way of designing models of comets using items of daily use. Themed ‘tattoo making’ was yet another activity which the students enjoyed. It was exhilarating to witness the teachers too, participate in events as “The Solar Walk” and “Astronomy Quiz”.

Ms. Suruchi Gandhi

The Space Coordinator Ms. P. Gayatri, reiterated the pioneering initiative of the Astronomy Club and felt a sense of immense achievement as the students got an unparalleled opportunity to exhibit the scientific prowess acquired through the yearlong Space Learning. It was enlivening to observe the students intrigued and fascinated by astronomy.

STUDENT SPEAK

‘It was a pleasant experience to practically showcase the knowledge acquired at SPACE Club Learning. It was particularly fun to participate in events as “Rocket Launching” and “Comet Kitchen”, where we could perceive models designed by us functioning in real life. On the behalf of the students, I would like to sincerely thank Ms. Sakshi Sharma and Mr. Rishabh Jain for imparting hands on expertise and training.’

Contribution by: BBPS Dwarka Team

In the words of our school Principal, Ms Suruchi Gandhi ‘The event comprising an array of enrichment sessions served to unleash scientific creativity and visit untouched vistas of experience’. She appreciated the efforts of the teachers and the Space Club staff for initiating and inspiring such novel ventures.

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Astronomy Day at Bal Bharati Public School Dwarka

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SKY THIS MONTH A new segment introduced to make readers stay updated

about the astronomical events of the sky for the month!

Follow our page to stay updated about Sky This Month

MOON New Moon - 5th SeptemberFirst Quarter - 12th SeptemberFull Moon - 19st SeptemberLast Quarter - 27th September PLANETS Evening ( Dusk ) - Venus, SaturnNight - JupiterMorning ( Dawn ) - Jupiter, Mars

CONSTELLATIONS

Evening ( Dusk )North - Cassiopeia, Cepheus, LyraEast - Pisces, Andromeda, PegasusWest - Scorpio, Libra,BootesSouth - Capricornus, SaggitariusZenith - Cygnus MIDNIGHT

North - Cassiopeia, Cepheus,East - Taurus, Auriga, PerseusWest - Hercules, Lyra, CygnusSouth - Pisces, PegasusZenith -PegasusMORNING ( DAWN )

North - Cassiopeia, Cepheus, PerseusEast - Gemini, Canis MinorWest - Pisces, Andromeda, Aries,South - Orion, Canis Major Zenith - Auruga, Taurus

COVER STORY - 30 Years Ago: First African-American Launches into Space

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Thirty years ago on August 30, Guion "Guy" Bluford became the first African American in space, launching into low-Earth orbit aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger on the mission STS-8. But he never set out to be a pioneer.

Dr. Guion Stewart “Guy” Bluford, born on November 22, 1942, a NASA astronaut was a Colonel in the U.S. Air Force. He participated in four Space Shuttle flights between 1983 and 1992.

"My desire," says Bluford, "was to make a contribution to the program.“

Years later, Bluford still recalls the rain-soaked, early Florida morning of Aug. 30, 1983, when a crowd of VIPs and other soggy well-wishers at the Kennedy Space Center awaited Space Shuttle Challenger's soar into history on STS-8.

"People came from all over to watch this launch because I was flying," said Bluford, recalling his thoughts while strapped in and awaiting Challenger's dramatic liftoff. "I imagined them, all standing out there at one o'clock in the morning with their umbrellas, all asking the same question, 'Why am I standing here?'“ Dr. Guion Bluford

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Bluford, one of three African-Americans in that 1978 barrier-breaking class of astronauts (former NASA Deputy Administrator Fred Gregory and Challenger astronaut, the late Ron McNair, the others), believes he was selected for the history-making mission because of his complement of pilot and engineering experience.

"All of us knew that one of us would eventually step into that role...I probably told people that I would probably prefer not being in that role...because I figured being the No. 2 guy would probably be a lot more fun."

Regardless, Bluford says he had plenty of fun as he and his four crew members successfully completed their mission.

Astronaut candidates – Ronald McNair, Guion Bluford and Frederick Gregory

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"The crew taped the intercom conversation," says Bluford of Challenger's liftoff, an experience they replayed upon their safe return to Earth. "There's somebody giggling and laughing all the way up. And we listened to it for quite a while to try and figure out who that was, only to come to the conclusion that it was me. I mean, I laughed and giggled all the way up. It was such a fun ride."

Bluford says it took him awhile to recognize the historical significance of his selection to be the first African-American in space. But when his pioneering role became apparent, Bluford says he embraced it.

"I wanted to set the standard, do the best job possible so that other people would be comfortable with African-Americans flying in space and African-Americans would be proud of being participants in the space program and… encourage others to do the same.“

Guy Bluford on STS-8.

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ASTROINQUISITES

Answer: While walking down the street on a sunny day, you must have observed something black following you every moment. The black thing is known as a “SHADOW” which is formed when direct light from a light source cannot reach on the surface due to obstruction by an object as shown in fig1. Shadow can be classified in two categories i.e. Umbra (Dark shadow) and Penumbra (Light shadow) which depends on the source of light. Let’s see how umbra and penumbra form. When all the light from the light source is blocked by an object, it results in the formation of a dark shadow known as Umbra. When light from one source is blocked with light from another source filling in some of the shadow OR when a large light source is only partially blocked, it results in the formation of lighter shadow known as penumbra.

Fig. 1

Q. WHY SHADOW HAS TWO PARTS – UMBRA AND PENUMBRA?

WOW! WEEKEND GATEWAYCelestial Getaway & Jeep Safari At Jim Corbett - 2 Nts & 3 Days in

Jim Corbett- Sky Watch in day 01 evening onwards, Jeep Safari on day second & Space Treasurer Hunt, Astro Photography Session & enjoy with Adventurer Park

activities

19To stay updated about latest

Astro Tours

Want to spend a Weekend without the usual things to do? Want an offsite with a difference?

Astro Tourism invites you, your family or your company on a celestial retreat during weekends

to Jim Corbett, Ram nagar, Nainital. Gear up for some action, adventure and be ready to get

awestruck by the enthralling night sky!For further information email : getintouch@astrotourism.in

ARTICLE - Eratosthenes: Beta (Second best) of the Ancient World

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There was once a time when our little planet seemed immense, it was the only world that could be explored. Its true size was first worked out in a simple and ingenious way by a man who lived in Alexandria in the 3rd Century B.C.: Eratosthenes.

Eratosthenes was a man with many talents! An astronomer, a historian, a geographer, a philosopher, a poet, a theatre critic, a mathematician and The Chief librarian of Great Library of Alexandria. One day while reading a papyrus book in the Great Library, he came across a curious account: Far to the south in a place called Syene something notable could be seen on the longest day of the year. On June 21st, the shadow of temple column or a vertical stick would grow shorter as noon approached. And then precisely at noon, columns would cast no shadow and at that moment the sun was exactly overhead. It was an observation which someone might have easily ignored- sticks, shadows, position of sun. Simple everyday matters what possible importance might there be?! But Eratosthenes was a scientist and his perception on this matter changed the whole world in a way lead the world because Eratosthenes had the presence of mind to experiment and to actually ask that whether a stick in Alexandria would cast a shadow in noon of June 21st and as it turns out it did!

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Eratosthenes asked himself that how in the same moment a stick in Syene would cast no shadow while a stick in Alexandria 800 meters away north would cast a shadow. Eratosthenes probed further to find out that two sticks in a flat surface would cast a shadow of same length but if a flat surface was curved than the shadow length of the two sticks on that curved surface would change. This minor but very important observation led to the conclusion that the earth is infact curved and not a flat surface which resulted in the change in shadow length of two sticks in two different places on Earth, bigger the curvature bigger the difference in the length of the shadow.

Artistic impression of Great Library of Alexandria

Temple Columns at Syene

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The sun is so far away, the rays are parallel when they reach the earth, sticks at different angles would cast a shadow of different length. The observed difference in the shadow length, the distance between Alexandria and Syene had to be about 7 degrees along the surface of the earth (if we extended the sticks in Alexandria and Syene towards the centre of the earth, they will intersect at an angle of 7 degrees). Eratosthenes hired out a man to walk from Alexandria to Syene to measure the distance in steps between the two places which was found out to be 5000 stades (approx 800 metres). He then put the values in the simple formula:

Ɵ/d = 360/ CƟ = 7 degree (the angle formed when the two sticks were extended towards the centre of the Earth)D = 800 metres (Distance between Syene and Alexandria)C = Circumference Of the Earth

Eratosthenes calculated the circumference of the Earth as 40000 kms. Eratosthenes only tool was sticks, eyes, brains and feet plus a zest for experiment. With these tools he correctly deduced the circumference of Earth to high precision with error of only few percent. That is pretty good figure for 2300 years ago!!!!

Besides calculating the circumference of Earth, Eratosthenes invented a system of latitude and longitude, calculated the tilt of the earth's axis, may also have accurately calculated the distance from the earth to the sun and invented the leap day, created a map of the world based on the available geographical knowledge of the era, coined the term ‘geography’

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Eratosthenes was also the founder of scientific chronology; he wanted to fix the dates of the chief literary and political events from the conquest of Troy.

Every year SPACE tries to find out modern day Eratosthenes by taking the PROJECT PARIDHI to school students and normal masses four times a year. The four times are the four special days of the year which are called as the Spring Equinox (22nd March), Summer Solstice (21st June), Autumnal Equinox (22nd September), and Winter Solstice (21st December). On these days, our students conducts the same experiment that Eratosthenes did 2300 years ago to calculate the circumference of the Earth, helping the students to understand the concept and how a scientific temperament of observation and questioning can lead to a whole world of discoveries! Since the introduction of Project Paridhi in the summer of 2011, thousand of students have done the experiment in various well known locations of Delhi such as Jantar Mantar, Qutub Minar, Barapullah and various school locations. For the upcoming September Equinox we will be adding India Gate as one more location where the experiment will be conducted.

For more information on Project Paridhi log onto: http://space-india.org/spaceindiaorg/paridhi/

Manalee DekaEducator, SPACE

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ASTRONOMY AT HOME – Spinning Balloon

Through this activity, we are going to learn the Newton’s third law of motion i.e.

Action and Reaction.

1. Bendable Straw2. Old ball pen refill3. Rubber band4. Balloon5. Paper pin

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Stepwise Procedure:

1. Take a bendable straw, bend it 90◦ from the bendable part and poke a paper pin at its center

2. Now tie the balloon on the right end of the straw with the help of a rubber band properly so that air cannot escape through the opening.

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3. After that place the paper pin in the old ball pen refill which will act as a bearing and help in holding the straw.

4. After preparing the spinning balloon blow air in the balloon from straw and hold the opening of the straw so that air cannot come out.

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5. Now, do a countdown and leave the open end of the straw. You will see that straw will start spinning.

The straw will spin because the air from the balloon will come out with a great pressure, pushing the open end of the straw to the opposite side. Here, the action is air coming out of the balloon and the reaction is motion of straw in opposite direction.

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SPACE INDIA IS HIRING!!

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